What is in a name?
by Brethil.Hwesta
Summary: Shy, thoughtful and bullied Scorpius Malfoy is very different to his father. Kind, brave and clever Rose lives up to all the expectations of a Weasley/Granger child. The two have kept apart over the last three years but as the new school year starts Rose cant help but feel sorry for him. Her cousins tell her he's a bully only now does she begin to doubt this. ScoRose Rosius
1. Chapter 1

_**A.N** here it is! chapter one... I hope you all think it's okay! the usual I own nothing etc. this is just a lighthearted story by a ScoRose fan. I plan to get to work on the next chapter soon, till then I hope this is sufficient!  
- brethil hwesta_

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Scorpius lay waiting on his bed, watching the dust as it spiraled round, catching the light, dancing through the air. The house was empty again. Well no, it was never truly empty, but the silence of both parents and the harsh ticking of the clock made the building feel like more of a lifeless shell then a home.

He blinked away the numbness of his trance and stood, clutching his head as if it could take away the aching of the stale and stuffy air. Suddenly the vast room's walls seemed to close in, all empty space absorbed by the dark shades of black and green. Without thinking Scorpius left the room and with footsteps echoing through the corridors, headed to the only place he felt at ease.

* * *

"ROSE!" Hugo's voice cut above all other sounds. She let out a frustrated sigh, a moments peace was all she wanted; was that truly so hard. "Coming." She called back before running down the stairs, almost tripping on the books and clothes that lay scattered there. "Harry, Albus and James are here!" he shouted impatiently, trying to hurry her. It worked. Rose took the steps three at a time; she hadn't seen Harry, Albus and James for weeks.

She ran into the room to see her uncle, mother and father sat talking on one side of the room, with Hugo and Albus on the other, James was hovering in the middle, as if unsure whether he was now too old to be messing around with his brother and cousin but not yet wanting to be bored by the conversation of the adults. His dark hair was longer than when she had last seen him and a heavy fringe fell into his eyes, Albus' hair had also grown in length but unlike James' straight locks, his stuck up in messily in all directions. Rose had always thought that the brothers looked incredibly similar, James being the more attractive of the two and the lanky Albus the friendlier.

After giving Harry a hug she walked over to James to save him from his indecisiveness, after the usual "how are you?"s she asked him where Lily was "Mum's decided to let her have her own owl, they've gone out to get it today." Rose didn't bother hiding her excitement; "Do you know what type she's getting?" "No." "Any name ideas?" "No." "Has she got a cage for it yet?" "No… I mean yes. But it's pretty small; Mum seems to think it will be fine but I'm not so sure." "Well maybe she'll get a small one; like a little owl, I love them there so cute!" James laughed at her choice in words, "They are!" Rose said defensively. "ROSIE!" Albus shouted while hugging her from behind, making her visibly jump and James laugh more.

* * *

Scorpius liked to draw. There was something soothing about making marks and simply not worrying about them, knowing that his gentle scribblings were secret and so no one could tease him, or tell him what he was doing was wrong. Sometimes, he would draw emotions, or add words to his work, letting the white paper listen and react to how he felt, giving the illusion of someone he could truly talk to, a wafer thin shoulder on which to cry.

By the lake he could breath. He could think. With lungs un-constricted and a mind uncontrolled. He lay back, feeling the dew soak into his clothes, knowing that here no heavy frown would stop him. The sky was a deep blue, the type you only get in autumn, and was crisp and cool. Lying in contrast stood the leaves, their warm rust and russet shades a stark contradiction, and yet, together they lay, in the perfect harmony only achieved by nature itself. Scorpius let out a long breath and drew. Not the shapes or the tones of the scene, but the colours. The colours that he loved so dearly. He laughed at himself for being so sentimental and then he laughed at himself for laughing. This, he thought with a smile playing upon his lips, was home.

* * *

The days passed; for one they were a frenzied blur of family and laughs and for the other they seemed to last forever; each second dragging its heavy feet through the thick and never ending mud of time. But soon both found themselves waiting on the platform, waiting for school, with mixed heights of nerves playing in the stomachs.

* * *

The steam appeared long before any other sign of the train; the grey smoke swirled engulfing all on the platform. Scorpuis stood pretending he could see through the thick cloud and that the nerves weren't almost unbearable. The repetitive chugging grew louder and louder until the flaking metal signs began to swing. He sat again, holding his sweaty palms in one way and then another, tongue darting out to dampen parchment dry lips. He knew it was ridiculous and he was too old to be so anxious but this changed nothing.

He told himself there was nothing to worry about as the harsh shrieking of metal on metal echoed through the station, but as it does the nagging voice at the back of his head spoke with a voice louder than all other thoughts – "The Potters."

* * *

"Come _on_ Albus, it's nearly here!" Rose called to her cousin who had sat to put on his tie. "Hurry up or we'll get rubbish seats!" Rose always got little butterflies in her stomach at the start of a new term. It was excitement more than anything that caused it; a new school year meant new teachers, new books, new spells… she couldn't wait! "Oh hurry up Al." she let out a sigh as she turned to see Albus who was now doing up his laces at a painstakingly slow pace "Iungitus" Rose incanted wand pointed at his shoes. He jumped away as the laces magically tied together. Albus looked up smiling "Coming." he called. "Finally!" Rose smiled back.

They began to walk towards the train chatting animatedly about nothing in particular when Albus suddenly turned to her "Oh wait! I need to get my case!" Rose looked behind to see the battered red case quite a way off, it was slumped on a bench as if lonely and sad it had started to cry. "You'll have to run then." She told him as he groaned at the thought. She tried to look stern but watching the skinny boy running only made her smile, she had been joking but obviously, along with the case, Albus had forgotten the power of accio. Honestly, she thought, that boy would forget his head if it wasn't… what was it her mother said, if it wasn't… screwed on, that was it. The muggle sayings always made her chuckle. "Albus Severus Potter!" she called after him "What happened to the Remembrall I gave you?" "I forgot it!" came the shouted reply, this time Rose could do nothing but laugh.

* * *

As the train stopped before them Scorpius sighed. "Accio bag." He muttered under his breath. Feeling the comfort of something to hold, he slowly left the safety of the rusting iron bench and watched everyone else as they piled on the train. He had learnt to wait, not to get on with everyone else, unless you wanted to be crushed in the crowd, but instead to stand, be patient and board after everyone else already has.

* * *

At this rate they were going to be the last ones on. There was no one els… Rose noticed another still not on the Hogwarts express. It was Scorpius. He was alone as usual and again Rose couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him. She shouldn't do, all his family was made up of sadistic and nasty death-eaters, but she did sometimes worry that James took things to far, was _too_ mean. She couldn't cope with people being picked on but, she supposed that, as Scorpius was a bully too he deserved it, didn't he? Just like his father and grandfather, he was horrid to loads of people like… like… Rose tried to think of someone she had seen him being unkind to but, to be honest, she couldn't think of a time she'd ever heard him speak let alone be mean, then again if James said he was a bully then he must be, right?

She watched Scorpius board the train wondering what his voice actually sounded like; she imagined it would be fairly low and… "Rose?" panted Albus making her jump, she saw him trying to follow her gaze and quickly pulled him away "let's go." she said, dragging him along, hiding a blush which she didn't quite understand.

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**_PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A.N-_**_ here you are! chapter two! i hope it's okay... thank you so much to the people who have reviewed (__'Guest', __Lindsay, and DaisyWillLiveForever) i really appreciate it... if the rest of you could also review it would make me very happy!_

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Scorpius stared out the window of the Hogwarts express, wiping away the steam which formed after each nervously ragged breath. He was trying to ignore the conversation of the others in the carriage but they were speaking so loudly and with such enthusiasm that it seemed to be impossible. The things they talked of were useless and shallow; recent quidditch matches and the like, yet he still felt a sense of jealousy creep in among the dread of returning to Hogwarts.

He wanted to sleep, it sounded silly but he was so unbearably tired that his eyelids felt like iron, if only he hadn't spent all night staring at the ceiling wishing the next day wouldn't come. And to make matters worse his head was pounding with a merciless force, till he felt as if he had a solid object pulsing inside his skull; a very large and hard solid object.

As soon as he was sure the other three in the cabin were ignoring him, he allowed himself to relax a little; his current state of invisibility meaning he didn't have to be quite so on guard. The train was fuller than he could ever remember; the cabin he was in currently was the most unoccupied he could find. Normally he avoided others in his year but he soon came to the conclusion that three of them (namely Lorcan and Lysander Scamander and a torturously loud Sean Finnagan) were better than six seventh years.

Being excluded from conversations allowed Scorpius to observe them instead and as a result he found himself able to read body language with great ease. For example he knew that, when Lysander mentioned his new broom, the slight tensing in Lorcan's back was due to jealousy. Also the way that Lysander's eyes nearly met his brother's and then quickly darted back to Sean showed that, though he felt guilty, he had been hoping for a bigger reaction from his twin.

Scorpius too found himself tensing as his heart began to pound like his chest at the sound of a familiar voice: "Where are we going to sit?" it was Albus which came as a slight relief, but Scorpius bit his lips and listened intently, his stomach doing somersaults; Albus was probably with his older brother… and Albus' older brother was the last person Scorpius wanted to see. "No idea, but I blame it completely on you!" Said a feminine voice; definitely not James either, maybe it was his sister… "Hey, it's Rose and Albus!" Lysander said, sliding open the cabin doors. No, no not in here Scorpius preyed… Lorcan stuck his head round the corner and waved them over. Scorpius turned to face the window, desperately wishing Albus would leave him be. He couldn't leave the cabin without getting noticed, he was trapped, cornered and as he heard them come in he froze in his seat.

* * *

Rose smiled when she saw the friendly face of Lorcan calling them over, she had been beginning to think they'd have to stand for the entire journey. She entered the cabin and jumped at the sight of an extra blond head. Al sat next to Lorcan leaving only the space next to Sean Finnagan free. Sean was a good friend and could make her laugh without even opening his mouth, in normal circumstances she would have been delighted, but it was who she would be sitting opposite that made her worried.

She sat, pretending to be un-phased. Keeping her eyes firmly fixed on an ever-chatty Sean. It was ridiculous she was worrying, but she felt as if he knew she had been thinking about him when he boarded the train; thinking about him and feeling sorry. Sean turned to Albus and the two began talking; both blissfully unaware that Rose had now lost all hope of hiding her distress.

She didn't know where to look, how to sit, if she should move or stay completely still. It was then she made her biggest mistake, she glanced sideways to look at him, just a small, quick flick of the eyes that always went unnoticed; always, being when the person you were spying on wasn't staring straight back at you.

* * *

There was something seriously wrong with Rose Weasley, Scorpius thought to himself watching as she almost, but not quite, stared at Sean. She was jumping slightly whenever the others laughed or moved suddenly. Not to mention the blush that was subtle but definitely there, of course he thought to himself, she may just be flushed from running to the train. He looked from Sean to her fiercely blinking eyelashes and back again. It was most likely she fancied him and didn't know how to act in his presence. Yes, he thought as a panicked and upset look came to her deep blue eyes the second he turned away from her to face Potter, Rose Weasley, quite obviously fancied Sean Finnagan and he was an idiot not to notice.

He watched, expecting her to calm now she wasn't in Finnagan's view but instead she seemed to panic even more until Scorpius thought maybe, just maybe she felt the same way as him about going back to Hogwarts… No, he told himself; that was ridiculous, so what was making Rose so anxious?

Suddenly she looked up at him making both quite visibly jump. With a short and frantic movement their eyes darted away, to anywhere but the others and both became very still. "Wasn't it Rose?" Albus asked mid-conversation "Rose, you okay, you look like you've just seen a dementor!" "I'm... I'm fine." She said ignoring the snicker from the seat opposite which was loud enough only for her to hear. Assuming he was laughing at her she shot him a glare when the others weren't looking.

* * *

A dementor, Scorpius laughed quietly to himself, thoughts dripping with sarcasm, he was far worse than that surely! Though, in his opinion, Potter was not brilliant with words, he had captured the look on her face perfectly. She had gone very pale in certain areas and in the others she was a deep crimson. Without warning she looked up at him again, however this time the expression she wore was the most murderous he could recall and, he thought, mentally groaning, there were a lot of looks like that he could remember.

What had he done? Surely she wasn't blaming him for spotting her looking, was she? Or, or was she annoyed at him because she realized that he had been watching her, it was something he just always did and, well, no one ever noticed, but that was probably because no one ever noticed _him. _That's right, Scorpius Malfoy was never noticed,unless, he sighed, unless they wanted someone to pick on. With that thought echoing in his head he went back to looking out the window.

What was wrong with her? He thought stealing another glimpse at the fidgeting red-head. Well, whatever it was _he_ needn't worry about it, he reminded himself with a yawn. God, if he didn't get some rest soon than he was sure his head would drop off. He settled back in his seat; feeling the rhythmic movement of the train which was slowly lulling him into a sleep.

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_**PLEASE****REVIEW!** also i have been wondering whether or not to give this story an adventure twist or just keep it only romance... what do you think? please say or i wont know what to write!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A.N**- sorry it's been so long! school and homework have been making sure i don't have time to write! i've said it before i'll say it again PLEASE REVIEW! (maybe it will make me update quicker!)_

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He was breathing so gently, she noticed, that his chest barely moved an inch; she thought of her brother and father's snores that had been minimalizing her hours of sleep since the day she was born. The arrogant idiot looked rather peaceful as the light caught his blond hair, making it shine silver. He obviously thought he was better than her, she decided in a huff; he had mocked her less than convincing "I'm fine" just moments after she had been feeling sorry for him. She mentally slapped herself for being so stupid.

The others were talking animatedly about quidditch, a recurring conversation she constantly had to exclude herself from. It was a silly game really, no matter what her brother, father, cousins or well, anyone else said, she could see little glory in hitting each other off brooms and causing god knows how many injuries in the process.

She had been completely ignoring Malfoy until a few moments ago when, seeing his reflection in the window, she had realised he was asleep. She found it quite amusing, seeing the apparently horrid boy in this way. There was something about when people slept that made them look so much younger, so much more vulnerable… but no, she wouldn't let herself pity him again.

His skin was pale, ridiculously so, and appeared almost translucent in the areas where it stretched over his high and protruding cheek bones. His eyelashes were dark, thick and long the type boys seemed to be naturally graced with and women strive to achieve.

She looked away, suddenly annoyed at her short, ginger lashes. "Oh dear," Sean smiled when he saw her face "I think if we don't change subject soon then none of us will see the start of the school year, or more importantly the welcoming feast!"  
"What are you talking about?" Lorcan and Lysander said in unison and then burst in to laughter as a result  
"Rose looks like she's gonna kill us!" Sean finished practically shouting over the sound of the twins' hysteria.  
"Shush!" Rose demanded "You'll wake u…" she stopped herself before finishing the sentence. They all looked at her, confusion etched onto their faces, it was then Sean saw Scorpius. "Look at Malfoy! He's sleeping like at little baby!" all the boys looked and burst into laughter  
"His 'daddy' probably told him to get an ickle midday nap." Albus said in the kind of voice you use when talking to dogs, cats or in fact babies.  
"Shall we jinx him?" said Lorcan or Lysander – Rose was too frustrated to tell "Yeah!" the others said excitedly "Rose!" Albus said with a look in his eye that quite frankly scared her a little "You could tie his laces together!" He turned to the others, "Earlier she used a spell that tied mine…." He let his sentence trail off realising he was admitting to having his laces tied for him. The others however seemed not to notice and began pestering Rose to do so "But why?" she said unable to hide a slight panic in her voice "It will be funny!" Came the overall reply "I left my wand in my bag." She lied, cursing when they all looked down to see it on her lap. She picked it up, feeling dread in her stomach "I… I can't remember the spell!" she lied again and Albus let out a frustrated sigh "Rose, you never forget spells." He stated. "And Malfoy deserves it!" Lorcan added. "We won't say it was you!" Sean promised. Regret pooling in her stomach Rose uttered the word "Iungitus." and then quickly added "but I won't do anything else and neither," she said, a threat, "will you."

Though they all looked disappointed none dared to argue with her and after all in the carriage had laughed some more about how Malfoy would react (excluding two of course, one who was asleep and the victim of this joke and the other who felt like smacking all their heads together.) they went back to talking.

* * *

Scorpius awoke with a start, heart still pounding from a bad dream. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep when sharing a carriage with one of the Potters; he checked his reflection to insure they had made no cruel adjustments to his face. They were chatting, obviously unaware he was awake, or maybe that hadn't noticed him sleeping at all. He looked out the window trying to judge how long it had been but it was hard to tell. He peeked over at Finnagan, the twins and Potter in turn trying to see if they looked at all suspicious. Worryingly they did.

He broke into a cold sweat; maybe he was just paranoid but he could have sworn that they were behaving differently and when Lorcan noticed he was awake he began to laugh slightly. Scorpius subtly checked himself over, something he had grown all too familiar with doing. His clothes seemed to be fine, so what had they done? With memories of being glued to chairs he gently moved in his seat, insuring he wasn't stuck to it, he wasn't. He barely stopped a gasp as he searched for his wand; they'd taken it! He'd left it right there; in his pocket, he fumbled around again, this time his hand met the familiarly gnarled wood. Everything seemed to be okay… he didn't know whether he should panic more or relax at this fact. He attempted the second option, settling back in to a more comfortable position; maybe they had done nothing. Or maybe he should keep looking. He began to fidget, was it his imagination making him itchy or was it a spell. He looked at them all again desperately hoping for a clue. They gave none.

Maybe Weasley would be easier to read only he was almost too scared to look at her now. He glanced, up as quickly as he could. She was staring at the floor looking downright miserable. Or maybe, he thought to himself, it wasn't the floor she was staring at. He looked down at his feet, a blush of frustration, embarrassment and anger staining his cheeks; how had he not noticed? Why did they always have to pick on him? He slowly picked up his wand so as not to attract attention, luckily he knew the counter curse, he could feel Weasley's eyes on him as he barley whispered the word "Solveres." He looked back up at Rose… now it was his turn to glare.

* * *

The day was cold, freezing almost. Just enough to make numb fingers and toes feel like heavy, unfeeling extensions of your body but a steady drizzle promised no hope of snow. The scenes that flew past the thick glass windows seemed decidedly dull; few people were out, leaving places with a sense of abandonment. Green hill after green hill washed by, each one submissive to the overhanging brood of a grey sky.

Rose touched her finger to the glass and watched as a drip of condensation puckered and then fell in its wake, the clear water seemed to cut a path though the surrounding grey, light shining of its proud and transparent form. She had flinched away from the anger of Malfoy the second he turned it on her and guilt was now tugging at her every muscle, as the hurt in his eyes flashed through her mind once more. He knew it had been her. He must have done. She felt a sigh escape her lips; it wasn't that she cared about him in any way, because, well, she simply didn't. It was just the fact that she done something she shouldn't have; a completely new experience for the oh-so-good Miss Weasley, and the remorse was destroying her. She barely noticed the train as it ground to a halt or the others as they got up to get their bags.

Both with eyes staring at the deep blue floor and hands clutched on laps the two statues seemed reflections of one another till, at the mentioning of their name, one stood and left, leaving the other in an empty cabin, alone again. The way it was meant to be.

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_**REVIEW!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_A.N - _**_sorry it's taken a while! YAY... OVER 500 VIEWS !Thank you to everyone who's reading, i really appreciate it, if you could let me know what you think of the story so far via a review maybe (*hint hint*!) that would be amazing! (considering only 4 reviews and yet over 500 readers... well you do the maths ;) )_

_thanks again_

_B.H xxx_

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Scorpius stared at a small scratch on the vast wooden table; he stood out, a patch of still white inside a blur of colour and excitement. He hated it; having nothing to do, pretending that he _wanted_ to be ignored, pretending he didn't notice people staring, people laughing. For the millionth time that day he wished he was invisible, he wished… oh what was the point. It didn't matter what he wanted, it wouldn't change a thing.

A sudden quiet shuddered through the hall in a great wave. The headmistress, McGonagall, began to welcome the new first years. Her long silver hair fell down below her waist framing a face which had become wrinkled and wizened with time. She opened her dry, cracked lips and the hypnotic sound of her deep, Gaelic voice filled the hall. He looked at her and allowed his eyes to blur over as memories of _his_ first day flooded back.

He had been so nervous, clutching onto a pebble he found by his lake, the only part of home he cared to remember. He put his hand in his pocket, feeling the same smooth surface four years on; he had expected Hogwarts to be so different. He had hoped that maybe life wouldn't be so dull there. With a harsh snort he mocked his earlier naivety. He remembered listening to the cheers of each house every time they received a new student. He remembered the cheers of the Slytherins the second his name was called out. But worst of all he remembered the silence as the word "Ravenclaw" echoed through the building, the hundreds of eyes that watched him, disgusted, and the muttering of "deatheater" barely a breath from the stupid, smirking mouth of James Potter but in the quiet of the moment he may as well have shouted it.

It was then, within the first few hours of arrival, that 10 year old Scorpius Malfoy realized his life would be day after day of humiliation and mortification. Yes, he remembered bitterly, those first few days were the hardest because, back then, he was still desperate to fit in, to make friends. However, it wasn't long before he learnt to keep his mouth shut and himself as far away from everyone else as possible.

The first years looked as scared and miserable as ever. Why weren't they each sorted privately beforehand and then sat with their allocated houses immediately? That way, they wouldn't have to go through the all the embarrassment. Would he still be subject of so many jokes if it had been done that way instead? A flash of light from a candle reflected off his thick handled knife. Looking down he sighed at the pale and ghostly boy staring back, somewhere in the back of his mind he accepted no matter what had happened in the beginning he would still be Scorpius Malfoy and he would still be hated for it.

* * *

Rose cheered heartily as yet another first year was sorted into Gryffindor. Thanks to an appetite inherited from her farther she was pleased to have some way to hide her stomachs rumblings. The signal was finally given and she grabbed all the food she could lay her hands on. The buzz in the great hall was always at its best on the first day of the year. Suddenly a raucous laughter erupted from the Ravenclaw table. She, along with everyone else, turned to see the source of such hilarity.

She flushed with anger and guilt as she spotted Malfoy, his plate of food hovering above his head, threating to fall. He was sat stone still, it seemed, to her, like the best thing to do; squirming and squealing would only make the others laugh more. She searched for the person who had cast the spell; her eyes scanning up and down the Ravenclaw table. "Mr Potter!" McGonagall voice was level and calm and yet did not leave any doubt of who was in charge. "If you would kindly let Mr Malfoy continue with his meal." James dropped his wand "10 points from Slytherin." James' house mates groaned at the loss of yet more points. James, however, continued to smirk at Malfoy until McGonagall called his name again.

Rose felt sick. James was her cousin, and he was behaving like _that_ in front of the whole school. She slammed her food down and sat ignoring her hunger. Soon however, she gave in, realizing that her protest was going unnoticed but the sound of her stomach was most certainly not.

When they had finished eating the sound of a knife tapping on glass caught all's attention. "Before you return to your dorms," McGonagall began "I must tell you of a few changes to the curriculum this year. We have decided it best that you study in classes judged by your ability in the subjects rather than which house you are in. This of course shall not apply to the first years and we think it best that those of you in second year will face no changes either. For the rest of you however, we hope you will find this system beneficial. You will be told which sets you have been allocated this evening. For now you may return to your dorms."

* * *

A smile pulled at the lips of Rose Weasley as she unpacked her bags, Scorpius' humiliation was forgotten and the prospect of a new set was now dancing animatedly in her mind. She had always hated the way that the professors taught things slowly in order for the slightly, erm... _slower_ in the class to understand _and_ she was for ever getting frustrated by the obvious questions her peers asked _and_ the way some simply couldn't be bothered to learn _and_... She laughed at how spiteful and ungrateful she sounded, all the people in her classes were her friends after all, but this had done nothing to stop the gradual build-up of frustration inside her. So, as everyone else was whining about this new system Rose could barely hide her excitement.

She, of course, would be in all the tops sets and so would finally be able to learn at a speed more suited to her learning ability. She didn't think it wise to ruin the fun the others were having complaining by sharing her far more positive views on the subject and so she took a book down to the common room and pretended to read as she waited for the news.

* * *

Scorpius was pleased that the idea of sets had come as such a shock to the Ravenclaws; all attention was on this allowing his to blend in, unnoticed. Personally he couldn't care less. It wasn't as if he'd be missing friends who may be put into different class. No matter who he was with there would always be someone to pick on him. The timetables arrived, finally not needing to wait in the common room Scorpius left heading for the abandoned toilets.

Checking no one was around he entered and sat in the middle of the huge bathroom, the coldness of the marble floor numbing him. "Scorpius!" the distinctive high voice of Myrtle reverberated around the room, Scorpius let out a groan. "Not now Myrtle." He said between closed teeth, the ghosts were the only people (if they still counted as people) who Scorpius ever talked to at Hogwarts, they didn't judge him or tease him (peeves excluded of course) Myrtle, however, was a little too friendly for his liking. "Did you miss me?" she asked cut off suddenly by a loud "Shhh" from Scorpius.

"_I_ missed _you_." She continued, not easily put off. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed her smoothing back her hair and quickly adjusting her glasses. He sighed and tried to continue reading his timetable. He had been placed in the top sets for every subject. He allowed himself a little smile. "What's that?" Myrtle asked moving closer.  
"Timetable." Came his short one word answer.  
"Oh that's right they're putting you in different classes this year aren't they?" he nodded. "I already checked your timetable!" she giggled as he looked at her, confused. "I wanted to have time to memorize it you see!" She smiled fluttering her opaque blue eyelashes. Scorpius stood at that.  
"I'm going now." He said over her laughter "bye." He finished, awkwardly. Myrtle always made him feel so _uncomfortable_. Not the same way as the Potters or their friends but a different kind of embarrassment. It was nearly after hours and was getting dark, "Lumos" he incanted as his footsteps echoed off the high stone walls. He glanced out the window and sighed, fully expecting the water bomb that his roommates were currently putting in place.

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_**REVIEW...** pretty please?_

_p.s sorry to all of you who thought of Scor as slytherin and James as Gryfindor... just didnt seem to suit there characters for this!_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A.N -** sorry it's been sooo long (again!) but I've been really busy recently... thank you so so much to everyone who has reviewed so far (DaisyWillLiveForever, Lindsay, 'Guest', El Guero, Clush, Condiotti and 'guest') it's really appreciated and always puts a smile on my face! 900 views... YAY! thank you all so much for reading! and as always please please (I'm down on my knees!) **review!**_

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Rose awoke; late. She stared in disbelieve at the clock hanging on the wall. She only had ten minutes before lessons began! She jumped up, thankful she had laid out her school clothes the night before, and attempted to dress, tripping over as she struggled with her tights. She was starving, as usual, but wouldn't have time to eat at this rate.

She ran down the corridors heading straight for the kitchens, nearly crashing into the painting as she reached it. She checked the coast was clear before tickling the pear; the bright green fruit squirmed under her fingers as high pitch laughter emitted from it. Suddenly the peeling paint transformed into a door handle, she turned it and entered the kitchen… thank god for Uncle George! The house elves greeted her with their usual enthusiasm, piling her arms full of food before she left, eating what she could on the move and stuffing the rest in her bag for later. God, she hated being late.

Rose checked her timetable; herbology first, with Professor Longbottom… that meant heading to the greenhouse… the opposite way to where she was going now! With a groan she turned on her heals knocking into a bunch of first years; she was going to have to run even faster.

* * *

It was too hot in the greenhouse for Scorpius. Especially in his blasted uniform, he pulled at his collar in an attempt to cool himself. He was sat at the back of the room, thankfully on his own meaning he could relax slightly. He was finding it hard to focus on Professor Longbottom's words and so ended up staring out the grimy glass walls of the classroom. Through the thick layer of green he could just about make out the shapes of birds. He tried to put names to the blurs, for example he was definite that the smaller one was a wagtail, however he was unsure whether the larger shape next to it was a bird at all. He frowned, studying the way it moved it could possibly be a...

Suddenly the door flung open and a very red, very out of breath Rose Weasley rushed in "Sorry… I'm… late." She huffed between heavy breaths. Scorpius couldn't help but smile slightly at the amusing scene before him until… "It's of no matter, if you could take a seat Miss Weasley. Mr Malfoy can fill you in on what I've said so far."

Rose could do nothing but stare at the only empty seat in the class "Miss Weasley?" Professor Longbottom asked gently "are you quite all right?" Rose snapped out of her trance, nodded and then took her place, keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead. 'Mr Malfoy' would not be filling her in thank you very much. She raised her chin a little; a small defiant gesture to cover up her nerves. She fought the urge to look to her side where a certain pale skinned boy sat; knowing that, if she did, a pair of steel grey eyes would meet hers.

Scorpius could almost feel the anxiety radiating off Rose. To make matters worse he was sure she was aware of his as well. The class went on as usual but Rose was a little quieter and Scorpius barely moved a muscle.

He felt as though he was trapped, unable to even blink and his hands remained sweaty fists till his skin was indented by finger nails. It was the unknowing that made him so anxious; for all he knew she could be as bad as the Potters, she _could_ be worse.

Rose found herself completely on guard, not saying anything that she doubted even the slightest bit; she wanted to create the minimal amount of things for him to tease her about. She looked back up at the clock, probably the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes. The lesson had barely begun, she would just have to sit tight and see if she could change places next lesson.

She was perched right on the edge of the rickety chair, one hand desperately rubbing her temples; she had a deathly headache forming, probably due to all the stress of the day she thought with a frown. Worsening the throbbing was an irritating noise coming from somewhere very near; the frustrating and repetitive tapping of wood on wood. It continued for a while at a steady almost pulse-like rate before she looked down noticing the wand in her hand which she was currently drumming on the desk. She blushed at her stupidity as she put the wand down on the table, unaware that her fingers were now hammering on the wood in a similar style. She sighed; Rose was just one of those people who, when nervous, simply _had_ to fidget.

"I thought I'd give you something a little more fun to do than working in silence as it's the first lesson back. I want you and your partner to try and name as many herbs and their uses in the next ten minutes… the pair with the most will each win a chocolate frog." Suddenly everyone sat up straight in their chairs, the prospect of chocolate increasing their concentration more than any spell ever could. "Well," the professor finished "of you go then!"

The quite greenhouse seemed to come alive in a single beat as all began to desperately recite herbs. Every head in the room appeared to be bowed over a sheet of parchment as they busily scribbled and muttered. Neville Longbottom smiled to himself at the sight of the hard working students, chocolate was yet to fail him as a teaching aid, he chuckled.

It was then he noticed the back table; the back table on which Rose and Scorpius sat in silence. Rose reached slowly for the quill that was in front of Scorpius, cautiously as if with any sudden movements he may eat her alive. As her hand moved closer Scorpius became more and more rigid until he looked as though he had a metal pole for a spine.

Rose then began to write; Scorpius watched her for a moment and his lips parted slightly like he was about to speak and then he turned away with a single, unexpected jerk of the head. This was very interesting, Neville thought to himself, maybe it would be best to move them to different places next lesson… or maybe they should learn to get on, he thought. It never did anyone any good when they simply avoided their fears and the two of them certainly couldn't go on like this for ever.

* * *

It was probably best to let her get on with it, Scorpius told himself; at least then they wouldn't have to talk. He looked down glancing over the words she had written when he noticed a mistake. He opened his mouth to tell her but somehow no words came out, they seemed to be caught behind a thick wall of air and apprehension. Embarrassed he turned away and continued to stare out the window. This time, however, his concentration wasn't entirely on the birds behind the glass and every now and then he couldn't help a glance at the hard working ginger sat next to him.

This was ridiculous Rose thought to herself as she scribbled out the sentence she had written most recently. This should be easy, she let out a short sharp sigh; it would be easy if she was sat anywhere else in the room. Malfoy looked round at the sound of her exhale. She met his eye for a second before returning to the sheet of paper in front of her. Lazy idiot couldn't even be bothered to help!

"Your time is up." Professor Longbottom said with a great enthusiasm. "Could you and your partner write your names at the top of your paper and then exchange it with another pair for marking." Rose quickly scrawled her name on the sheet before thrusting it and the quill at Scorpius. He jumped and then looked at her confused. For god sake how did he end up in top set? Rose wondered before motioning toward the paper with her head.

He wrote then gently placed the quill down on the table Rose snatched back the parchment then examined it before passing it on. Scorpius' hand writing looked ridiculously formal next to Rose's scribble. It was calligraphic; a perfected font which swirled and flicked beautifully on the page. Rose scowled at it; pretentious snob probably thought that made him better. Well it didn't.

After marking (and losing) the competition the bell rang and both sprang into action, grabbing everything and quickly stuffing it into their bags. They both turned to leave, bashing into one another, "Sorry." Scorpius mumbled quickly frowning at the startled expression on Rose's face before practically running out the room.

* * *

_A.N - hope you liked it now REVIEW!_

_in answer to Clush who asked some questions in their review which i couldnt reply to i'm so glad your enjoying it and that you've read my other one shot which yes i am still planning to use though i'm not still sure it will be their first interaction. also I've put James in Slytherin because of his personality; i just didn't feel Ravenclaw gryfindor or hufflepuff were right. And I think that his prejudice is mainly towards Scorpius as a result of Draco and Harry's relationship!_

_i hope that answers all your questions!_

_thanks for reviewing_

_B.H_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A.N-** I've decided that i am AWFUL at uploading... i'm really sorry to everyone who's been waiting but i've been experiencing writers block. as always PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE **REVIEW!**_

* * *

A chill wind whistled through the castle corridors, lifting age old layers of dust from the windowsills and stirring litter that was scattered across the hard, stone floor. Scorpius Malfoy shivered slightly as he watched the rubbish swirl. One piece, caught by the breeze, leapt into the air, leaving the others to float towards him. It summersaulted in its short-lived aerial grace before returning to the ground at his feet.

He bent and picked up the crumpled parchment jumping when he recognised his own scripture printed across the top. On unfolding it he revealed the sheet from yesterday's herbology lesson. It looked as though Rose had scrunched it up into a ball before throwing it to the ground in disgust.

It was early morning and not even the sun had woken yet, though the light of the moon was bright and so he needn't bother with a candle. He sat on the deep sill, and allowed the cold of the stone to seep through his clothes and numb his skin. He flattened the paper on his lap, corrected the mistake he hadn't been able to tell her about and then, with a short, frustrated breath, screwed the creased sheet back up into a ball again. He took out his wand "Incendio." He muttered as he raised it into the air.

He had left his dorm in an attempt to walk off a dream, or rather a nightmare. They had been coming frequently and turning increasingly vivid over the last few nights. He stared at the burning ball of Rose's scribbled notes as the last of his blurred memories faded away and all he could remember of it was the fear.

* * *

"Hey Rose; Wake up." Alice Wood was usually a quiet girl but when she wanted to make noise she definitely could "I said WAKE UP!" she had mouse brown hair and a passion for quidditch inherited from her father. Her small mouth was often pulled up in a triangular smile framed by two deep set dimples and her hazel eyes had a tendency to flicker constantly from one object to another.

Rose's eyes suddenly burst open as she sat straight up in bed. "What… what…"she panted before seeing her chuckling friend and giving her a much needed slap on the arm. "You had me scared out my skin!" Rose ranted as she tried to catch her breath.  
"Well," Alice began "we don't want you oversleeping again now do we?" Rose groaned, to tiered to make any decent reply "besides you did tell me to wake you up so you really can't complain."  
"What time is it?" Rose asked rubbing the sleep out her eyes  
"About six I think" Rose stared at her friend in disbelieve.  
"Lessons don't start till eight thirty!" Alice laughed at Rose's reaction before speaking again  
"yes but quidditch practice starts at six thirty."  
"I don't do quidditch." Rose started before Alice could finish talking  
"No you don't. But I do!" she laughed before hitting Rose with a pillow and running out the room.

Rose lay back down and closed her eyes, she might not get back to sleep but she by god she was going to try. She jumped as another pillow smacked her in the face; Alice stood over her again, hands on hips, "Come on." She demanded pulling the ginger out of bed "we can go get breakfast."  
"I'm not hungry." Rose said just as her stomach rumbled desperately at the thought of food. Alice shook her head,  
"Get dressed quickly and meet me in the common room."

Knowing that when Alice wanted something she always got it Rose decided to listen to her friend and go get something to eat. They walked along chatting about nothing in particular when, as they rounded the corner, they happened upon someone else also awake.

* * *

Scorpius turned his head at the sound of approaching footsteps. It was Weasley and Wood. He quickly brought his attention back to the ball of fire floating before him. He fought a roll of his eyes as he noticed the way their conversation died away in his presence.

He looked again, just as they passed him; Weasley was glaring defiantly ahead refusing to even glance at him, Wood however gave him a small nod of her head which he, of course, returned. She always seemed to him to be one of those people who found it next to impossible to be mean to anyone who hadn't done anything wrong to her personally. For people like this he was thankful.

* * *

Rose stopped talking the instant she saw the flash of silver hair. Subconsciously she straightened her skirt and smoothed down her hair. The sound of her and Alice's footsteps echoed around making the silence seem even louder than it already was. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alice and Malfoy nod to one another which made her feel ridiculous, if he didn't intimidate Alice than he shouldn't intimidate her.

She made her mind up to follow suit she turned to look at him only to be distracted by the burning object before him. As it spun she noticed through the flames her own writing part of which had been crossed out and had, what she now knew to be Scorpius' writing, above it. She may have thrown the paper out herself and she may now realise that what she written was wrong but seeing the white sheet blacken and burn truly angered her.

"Rose?" Alice's voice brought her back to reality as she realised she had stopped walking and was simply staring at the object before her. She spun on her heels to face the culprit. This time when her eyes met his steel grey ones she refused to look away. He looked terrified and guilty; there was a look in those eyes which seemed to be genuinely sorry.

She let him squirm under her gaze for a second longer before drawing her wand, at which he flinched as if bracing himself to be hit by a curse, with a snort she again turned to face the fiery paper "extingus." She muttered grabbing Alice's hand as she stormed away.

* * *

Guilt ate away at Scorpius as Rose snuffed out the flames, guilt and relief that she hadn't hurt him when she so easily could've. She had over reacted, completely, all that had happened was he had burnt a piece of paper she had screwed up and thrown away. He still felt bad, and petrified. What was stopping her from telling James, making the story worse and taking upon herself to help make his life a living hell. And if she did choose to do all this then she would be one of the first who, no matter how small and pointless it was, would have a reason to side against him.

* * *

"Rose!" Alice cried as she tried to yank her hand free. "What the hell was that about?" when her friend didn't reply and her grasp didn't weaken Alice slammed down her feet finally bringing Rose to a lurched halt. "Will you just stop and speak for a second?" she said it as a question but Rose knew it was a order. "One second you're walking along, yeah a bit tiered but you're fine the next you're glaring at somebody because there're burning a piece of paper, is that right or was I unconscious for enough time for you two to initiate some kind of evil staring contest?"  
"It was my paper."  
"What?"  
"The paper he was burning, it was mine."  
"You mean he took it from you? Was it important?"  
"No."  
"No it wasn't important or no he didn't take it from you?"  
"Both."  
"Well how'd he get it then?"  
"I… I threw it away." Rose felt her argument weaken dramatically as the words left her mouth.  
"Then what's your issue? I know your families got a thing against him but really?" Alice laughed "Come on little miss drama queen let's go eat and maybe that'll cheer you up. I'll tell you what though" she continued as they began to walk again, this time at a more leisurely pace "I'm not waking you up tomorrow, I'd much rather you overslept than attacked everyone we bumped into!"

When they reached the great hall Rose ate and ate and ate. After some toast and a bowl of cereal Alice simply sat and watched her friend, amused. "How are the lessons going?" she asked "personally I'm not finding the whole set business too bad." Alice patiently waited for Rose to finish her mouthful fighting back a giggle as Rose struggled to swallow.  
"I was excited." She began taking the time to refill her bowl "but I've been put in the same set as Malfoy for every single lesson so far." Alice looked mildly surprised for a second  
"So he's a genius too then?"  
"No." Rose's response came fast leaving her slightly taken aback  
"Well if he's in top set for everything so far then…" Rose groaned  
"Aren't you late for quidditch yet?" she asked stopping Alice in her tracks.  
"Oh god I am as well, see you later!" she said jumping up from the table and running out the hall. Rose suddenly felt very alone and stuffing one last spoonful of food into her mouth headed up to the common room to try and find some company.

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	7. Chapter 7

_**A.N -** Hello! Remember me? It's been awhile i know... i lost motivation continue and have had hundreds of exams which didn't help to say the least anyway chapter seven; here it is. its not much and not the best quality either but its better than nothing right? (sorry to any of you who have read 'shelter' the one shot that started this story but it's in here with some other stuff too.) please please **REVIEW!**_

* * *

Rose entered the common room fully expecting the usual throng of activity. When she noticed the quiet she remembered the time. James, the only other person awake, turned and smiled "Hey Rosie." He spoke with a voice still thick with sleep "what you doing up so early?"  
"Alice woke me up, she's got quidditch and I overslept yesterday so she took it upon herself to insure that didn't happen again."  
James laughed, "Only a truly caring friend would wake _you_ up before 12pm, caring and very, very brave." Rose batted his arm rolling her eyes as he continued "It's true, I wouldn't have the guts to do it; I tried it once; biggest mistake of my life - you're terrifying when you wake up!"

Beside her conscious effort not to Rose joined his laughter, remembering the day over summer that she yelled at him for a full ten minutes in response to his wake up call. To begin with he seemed scared or maybe just taken aback by this sudden change in character but soon he began to smile, which of course made her even more furious.

"Well I'm glad I scare you." She teased "I do love it when people live in fear." He snorted then continued writing, biting his bottom lip with brow furrowed in confusion. Rose peered over his shoulder "what are you doing?" she asked. He continued for a second before looking up and speaking  
"Potions essay is due in this morning."  
"Oh." She nodded "would you like some…"  
"No." he cut in. "Whenever you help me I feel like an idiot." He grinned "And you know how much I _hate_ feeling like an idiot!"  
"Well are you sure because I could just..."  
"No Rose. I'm fine."

Feeling a little deflated Rose went and sat on the sofa. Having nothing to do, she absentmindedly fiddled with her skirt. Maybe she had been a bit ridiculous about the whole burning paper thing. Alice certainly thought so. Perhaps she should just put the whole thing behind her; she wasn't telling James that was for sure, she glanced over at him struggling with his essay, she wished he'd let her help but stubbornness ran in the family and, for now, she'd let him believe he had won.

People started waking up and it wasn't long before the common room was back to its usual busy self. As everyone trickled in James seemed to forget the importance of his work and left to eat. Rose took the opportunity to strike. He would be thankful in the end she thought as she sat, reading through what was already written before continuing it herself, trying as hard as possible to match her cousins handwriting.

* * *

"Oi Malfoy!" Scorpius jumped down from the window sill and started to walk very quickly in the opposite direction. "Malfoy, I'm talking to you!" 'very quickly' changed to 'at lightning speed' as he turned the corner and broke into a run. It was raining outside; surely Potter wouldn't chase him through that, he thought, bursting through the door and sprinting across the grounds. He didn't pause to look over his shoulder though he could hear the sound of laughter dying away. He slowed, no breath left in his lungs. They were gone.

* * *

Once finished Rose reviewed her work, pleased. If he didn't get full marks for that then she would eat her wand. She looked around again before sighing. Most people had now gone to breakfast. She slumped in her chair a little, waiting for something interesting or exciting to happen. It didn't. She began to tap her feet on the floor then stood up before sitting straight back down again unsure where to go.

The few in the common room looked at her puzzled, a couple laughed. Ten or so more long and tedious minutes passed before, unable to bare the boredom or the looks any longer, she decided to head to her first lesson; care of magical creatures. Maybe she could visit Hagrid she thought passing a window but not taking the time to look out of it or notice the weather...

* * *

Rose ran through the rain to where care of magical creatures was being held. She was early and would have to wait but anything was better than spending another five minutes in the draining boredom inside. As she got closer she noticed an umbrella – she wasn't the first one there. She laughed at how much the muggle device stood out against the castle grounds. Maybe whoever it was would let her go under too.

The figure turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and a flash of silver hair alerted her to the fact it was Scorpius. She felt their eyes lock for the briefest of seconds as she averted her gaze and tried to hide her shock. She wasn't expected it to be a pureblood holding the umbrella let alone Scorpius Malfoy. Giving up any hope of shelter she stood a couple of metres away, ignoring the rain drops as the dampened her hair and a pair of steel grey eyes as they fell heavy upon her.

* * *

When Scorpius had gone out to avoid the Potters he hadn't expected their first cousin to join him. He watched the rain as it trickled down her face, dripping off her nose and mouth. She shivered and he felt a sudden pulse course through his stomach. She was soaked and freezing. Had she forgotten her cloak? He looked away suddenly, embarrassed by the length of time he had been staring. But soon his eyes drifted back, why didn't she shelter beneath a tree? 'She could always share the umbrella' a voice in his head told him. His eyes searched the area, as if someone could have heard his thoughts. No she was a Weasley and she would tell James. He didn't need another thing to be teased about. Then again maybe, if he helped her, she would forgive him for the earlier incident.

She sneezed and then looked up, straight into his eyes, a look of questioning and confusion in the blue depths "ummm…" he began feeling a distinct lack of control over his words, "do you want to come…" he didn't know how to finish his sentence and he felt a scarlet blush stain his cheeks as his tongue dampened his lips.

Rose didn't know quite what to say "under your umm…", he nodded in awkward reply. "errr…" what should she do? She was cold and wet yes but, but well he was Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy and, and… "Thank you." The words slipped out before she had reached a decision and she moved towards him, ducking as she reached the domed fabric.

She felt herself both apologising and thanking him repeatedly; for something to say more than anything. But still the awkwardness swarmed around them, thick and intoxicating, till both felt they could barely breath.

Suddenly the umbrella slumped and convulsively she reached out to prop it up again. Her hand met something warm. Scorpius pulled his back quickly and stared at a spot on the ground, pretending it hadn't happened. But it had. And so the two stood in silence, faces as red as beetroot, eyes staring determinedly in the other direction, in the middle of the pouring rain, underneath a now positively deflated umbrella.

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_**REVIEW OR FLYING VELCRO MONKEYS WILL ATTACK YOU WITH THEIR JELLY BEANS!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A.N -**__the usual sorry for the (long) delay, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed, i hope you enjoy and, of course, __**REVIEW**_

* * *

Alice was breathing heavily, worn out from flying. She was secretly pleased when the rain began; the cool drips were a pleasant relief from the heat which radiated off her. She raised her face skyward and let them cascade down her cheeks, catching some in her mouth, blinking some from her eyes.

Walking along she caught sight of the flame red locks of Rose's hair and changed direction to walk towards her. She had a little fit of giggles when she saw the collapsed umbrella which was now beginning to collect the water in its folds. She peered round to see who else was under there. Was that Lorcan or Lysander? She wondered.

"Hey Rose, Scamander!" she called to avoid naming the wrong twin, "you know your umbrellas become a bucket right?"

Rose turned at the sound of Alice's voice, jumping and quickly trying to get herself away from Scorpius. As she did so, however, her hair got stuck on one of the umbrella's metal prongs. She desperately pulled at it embarrassment swimming in her stomach and head. Scorpius looked frantically side to side unsure what to do and where to go.

Rose's eyes began to water, a mixture of pain and humiliation and Scorpius reached out to help as Alice got ever closer. Defeated Rose let her hands hang limply by her side as Scorpius' shaking fingers detangled the knots.

As soon as she was free, Rose jumped away. Alice reached her side, now laughing hysterically. "What happened there?" she asked turning to face the twin, however, she only got as far as the 'happened' before stopping, her mouth hanging open as she stared at Scorpius' blushing face. "Oh." She said, attempting to recover. "I thought you were, well, never mind."

The three stood, silent, until Alice looked from Rose to Scorpius and back again then resumed her laughter. "I'm so confused!" she admitted, thinking of earlier in the day when she was sure Rose was about to murder him. Neither joined in her laughter so she soon got bored, declaring she was "going in to get out of the rain." and left.

* * *

The others arrived and Rose huddled with them as Scorpius was edged further away from the crowd having now put away his umbrella_._ Rose found herself unable to follow conversations, preoccupied by thoughts of his unusual kindness as she occasionally glanced his way, sometimes catching his eye and quickly diverting her gaze.

Having interacted with Weasley, Scorpius didn't feel quite right. It was though he had done something bad, really bad, and he felt almost guilty. Not only that but he felt annoyed. Annoyed that she had been so desperate to move away and not be seen with him even if it meant standing in the pouring rain.

Despite this he couldn't help but notice how she kept looking over at him with a seemingly anxious yet curious look in her eyes. It was weird being noticed when to everybody else there he was invisible. He wasn't sure he liked it. He felt her scrutiny upon him again and uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot, wanting to shrink away from sight.

* * *

Professor Longbottom sat at the large mahogany desk tapping his quill on its wooden surface, brow furrowed in deep thought. He was planning to do some partner work with his classes, getting them used to who they'd be sharing their lessons with for the next year. His pen currently hovered above Scorpius' name.

He thought of the young Malfoy's dealings with Rose the lesson before wondering whether this partnership would be beneficial for them or simply unwise. Scratching his chin he quickly scrawled another name next to Scorpius', sighing in relief at having made a decision and moved on to the next pairing.

* * *

Hagrid came out his cabin, beaming at his class. "Hallo there!" he laughed on seeing the dampness of their faces and clothes, "look a' yeh all, yeh look as miserable as a pack o' werewolves the day after the full moon!" Jess Wortwood, a plump, shy girl sneezed and the rest remained quiet.

"Come one, it'll be more sheltered in the forest." He said after the pause. A couple groaned, their dreams of entering the dry and warmth of a classroom shattered in an instant of gruff yet gentle voice. The students and their huge hulk of a teacher plodded across the saturated ground which now squelched and sunk with every step.

Scorpius waited for the others to walk ahead, putting the necessary distance between him and them. This made it a little easier to think, or at least try to. He picked a long strand of grass which stood above the rest and began to pick its seeds one at a time, scattering them as he did so. Many, however, refused to leave his fingertips sticking themselves to moisture on his hands.

Rubbing them off on his trousers he threw the long, thin stem, which, though now empty, had many dips and cavities where its kernels should still have been. He looked up, focusing his sights on the back of Wealsey's head, frowned then dropped his sights back to the ground and continued to walk after them.

* * *

Shaking off her thoughts of Malfoy, Rose trudged along silently with the others, occasionally nodding and smiling but feeling a distinct lack of energy, or maybe it was will power, to speak. Her head still had sharp pains coursing through it from where her hair had been tangled and pulled and she kept reaching out to massage her stinging scalp.

When they entered the wood Rose was surprised to see a tiny, shabby, wooden shelter built against a tree. It was only about half a meter tall and the same distance wide though this was difficult to judge due to the… _interesting_ angles at which the planks stood. "Gather round, gather round!" Hagrid called out to his class "yeh'll all wanna see what I got 'ere for yeh!"

Inside the box, head bowed to avoid the falling rain, sat a beautiful bird. Feathers of a deep crimson adorned its body, a colour which slowly tapered into the rich gold of its tail. It almost seemed to glow as it turned to face its approaching visitors, cocking its head and studying each with a gaze of its black, ashen eyes.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" Hagrid cooed, sighing happily as he looked at the bird. "What yeh see 'ere is a phoenix. Lovely creatures they are." He let the class stare for a bit before telling them about the animal. Scorpius heard none of it. The bird had locked its eyes on him, only breaking its gaze to blink.

Scorpius had loved animals and creatures from a young age and already knew everything there was to know about the bird with was staring so intently into his eyes. Jess sneezed a second time, the phoenix turned to where the sound had come from before bowing its head again and closing those pitch black orbs to sleep.

"So who wants to see if they can get him to come out?" The professor asked as a large number raised their hands in the air with a great enthusiasm. The phoenix, however, had other things on its mind and refused to come out for any of them. They all squatted, clicking their fingers and making silly little noises in an attempt to persuade him out before giving up and heading back to the school.

"Maybe next lesson yeh can all 'ave another go." Hagrid said looking disappointingly at the bird. Again Scorpius hung back as the others walked away, but his time, it wasn't just to put the distance between them.

Before leaving the forest, Rose turned round to get a final glimpse of the beautiful creature stopping dead in her tracks when she did. Malfoy was sat on the soaking floor with the phoenix stood beside him, letting him gently stroke its head.

Looking on that scene, him with the bird, both so comfortable in each other's presence and what with the darker shade of blond his hair had turned in the wet, it was hard to remember him as a Malfoy. He looked up, the small smile on his lips vanishing on spotting her and she quickly turned running to catch up with the others.

* * *

_Oh god! I'm awful at writing for Hagrid! __oh well!_ and sorry its a bit stuttery, i'll try and edit it to flow a little better at somepoint, any way better than nothing hey?... REVIEW or i will cry and not update, yes a am blackmailing you, dreadfully sorry about that... i'm desperate!  
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	9. Chapter 9

**_A.N- _**_yes i know i am ridiculously slow when it comes to updating... can you forgive me? Thanks to Percabeth1224 for spurring me on to right this chapter! Don't forget to **REVIEW!**_

* * *

Rose couldn't help but feel nervous as she made her way to herbology. The Malfoy she had witnessed today had been very different from the Malfoy she knew. This scared her. As she entered the room she decided to change her tactics and turned to smile at him. He was looking the other way which left her grinning stupidly into the silver locks of his hair.

Frustrated she slammed down her bag and took her seat. He still didn't look round. She huffed loudly, his head tilted but he stopped himself from turning. The beam on her face quickly transformed into a glare. It was then he turned. Shoot. A quick attempt to change her expression resulted in a muddled and confused look which, firstly, wasn't particularly flattering and, secondly, left Scorpius not quite knowing how to react. Great.

Professor Longbottom entered just in time. "Today," he began "I thought I'd start you off on some partner work." A mixed reaction of quiet groanings and cheers met his statement. "This will get you used to the people in the class and should also be a bit of fun." Everybody had already began frantically looking round the room gesturing to each other in an attempt to find a partner they were happy with. "Pay attention. There is no need for all of that. I have already decided on the pairs!" Anybody who had originally been excited now joined the groaners in showing their disapproval.

"Let's see." The professor fussed through sheet upon sheet of parchment which littered his desk finally finding the one he was searching for. "Right, so Oliver you're to go with Ben, Eleanor with Charlie, Jess you're with Morgan…" and so it continued, some were thrilled with their appointed partners and others were anything but. At the back desk Rose watched her preferred choices being paired up one by one, she knew what was coming and she was sure he did too. "Cary and Niamh, Rose and Scorpius, Toby and Sam."

"Each pair is to research a certain herb; I want you to learn its origin, what it is used for…" as the professor talked Rose and Scorpius exchanged a swift and awkward glance, this was going to be painful, Rose thought. "I'm just going to go and get some books and samples for you to begin your research, while I'm gone discuss which plant you would like to learn about." And with that he was away.

Several people turned to look at Rose, some pitying, others simply relieved it wasn't them. "Oh Rose!" exclaimed Morgan, "We could ask the professor if you can come in a three with me and Jess." Jess who was standing behind nodded her head enthusiastically. Scorpius rolled his eyes and began to take notes on what Longbottom had told them to find out.

Ben turned round "Oi Malfoy!" Scorpius' eyes flickered slightly up at the sound of his name. Ben, who had forgotten to think up an insult instead stated a fact "everyone hates you, you know that right?" at this everyone turned round and a small crowd began to gather round the back table as the popular sport of name-calling commenced.

* * *

The taunts were coming thick and fast. Rose turned to look at the boy sitting next to her; he was writing as if oblivious to them all, however as she scanned her eyes over the last few sentences she saw he was simply writing the same thing over and over "abire Idiotae". Rose, who had been taught Latin by her mother, quickly translated it as "go away idiots". She looked back up at the crowd who were still teasing mercilessly. "STOP IT." She shouted over them. Everyone turned to look at her "I'm trying to concentrate." She said pleased at such a liable excuse. "And Professor Longbottom will be back soon, so you should all go and at least pretend to be working!" She finished feeling a sense of pride as they all went and sat.

She glanced sideways at Scorpius, he was sat still staring at her with his mouth hanging slightly open. "Thank…" he cut himself off, turning abruptly back to the sheet of parchment before him. "They were distracting me, that's all." She lied. "And by the way," she whispered forcing him to look back up at her "I don't believe your translation of 'idiots' was one hundred per cent correct." He blushed and opening and closing his mouth several times yet seeming unable to produce a sound. "Just saying." She finished before turning to hide her smile in a mass of bushy ginger hair.

* * *

When he got back into the classroom, Neville went round talking to each of the pair, suggesting and advising them on what to do. Telling the pairs who were unsure which plant or fungi he thought they should study. For example he told Elizabeth and Jake to do shrivelfig, Jemima and Alex the bubotuber and Rose and Scorpius gillyweed.

He then told them all that for homework they would have to meet up and conduct further investigation into their chosen plants. Scorpius grumbled inwardly, that wasn't going to happen! As if Rose Weasley would meet up wi – she interrupted his thoughts "Can you do Wednesday lunch time?"  
"what? Err, yeah, sure?" Scorpius hated the way he sounded as he replied.  
"Right, good, well, I'll see you in the library then." She wasn't about to let Malfoy ruin her perfect homework record.

The bell rang and she promptly left the room leaving him a little confused and greatly surprised to sit and realise what he had just agreed to. Seeing another student outside of lessons was a slightly prospect, what's more, this particular student was a Weasley.

* * *

Night fell and the wind snuffed the last candle which flickered daintily before ending its dance, the castle was enveloped in a thick cloak of ebony. Rose lay awake, unable to calm her mind and seize her thoughts enough to sleep as she pondered over the happenings of the day. One person in particular kept circling back to the forefront of her thoughts. Her mind quickly recounted the sight of him with the phoenix for the fifth time now. She groaned, all she wanted was to sleep, and that absolute idiot was keeping her up. The same idiot who she now had to meet on Wednesday. Since asking him she had realised that she could have just done all the work by herself and claimed that they had done it together, this way she wouldn't have to see him again.

A small part of her, like the candle, flickered the thought that maybe she wanted to see him, just to work out which Malfoy was the real one, the one from today or the one from the rest of her life. Like the wind she blew this thought out, though not completely, it still glowed, an amber wick which, in the right conditions, could easily relight itself without the aid of a match or spell.

* * *

Scorpius woke with a start, cold sweat coating his body, sticking his clothes to his skin. A voice still echoed in his head, a struggled whisper which seemed to penetrate the very back of his skull; "dlichs se nippah on?" His eyes reeled madly in the dark as his hands subconsciously covered his ears… he often had nightmares, but this one had been so real… so believable. He focused his mind desperately on forgetting the small wisps he could still remember. He leant back in his bed, desperate not to sleep but too tired to remain sitting. A shaking hand raked through his hair as he tried to calm his heartbeat. It was just a dream; he reminded himself, just a dream.

However, it wasn't long before the curling tendrils of drowsiness began to wrap round him once more, impossible to shake off they squeezed, surrounding him with their warm and welcoming calls. Unable to bare it he kicked off the covers and swung his legs off the bed. He sat there, holding his spinning head in his shaking hands as he stared, refusing to even blink, into the darkness of the room.

* * *

_wow doesn't that little box under this story just look so good!? isn't it sooo tempting to write a** review** in it? and it would only take one second... you know what if i were you i would DEFINITELY go for it! _

**_PLEASE REVIEW_**


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